I have a small (2.5g) batch of an oddball beer ready for bottling. In truth it can’t really be called beer, there is no malt of any form in it. I’ll simply called it a “fermented beverage” for lack of a better term. The only fermentable used was turbinado sugar, the flavor is contributed strictly by some herbs used in place of hops. OG was 1.042. I checked the FG about 6 days ago and got 1.008. It was pretty dry but had some good, subtle flavors. It was actually pretty refreshing, even at room temp and uncarbonated!
I was about to bottle it yesterday and took another gravity reading just to be certain. It had dropped to 1.000-1.001. I checked, checked and checked again. Sure enough, it looks as though all of the sugars had fermented out! Instead of tasting pleasantly refreshing it now tastes harsh and overly dry. I know of people who have used malto dextrin to increase body, but is that something I can do just prior to bottling? There is a LHBS with some in stock I could zip over and pick up before I bottle today.
This might be an opportunity to blend with another beer. If you didn’t, now you know “sugar” will almost certainly ferment completely out. It makes a poor choice as a sole fermentable unless one plans to halt the fermentation.
So what you could do is add more sugar, juice or malt along with potassium metabisulfite (campden tablets) to stun the yeast and halt fermentation to near zero. Then store the beverage cold.
My other thought was to sweeten it at serving with something easily soluble like agave syrup, light honey, superfine sugar or the like. I may end up doing the malto dextrin for mouth feel and body (thanks for the heads up Euge, I’ve obviously never used the stuff) and something else to sweeten it with.
Pickin’ up on Euge’s suggestion, just last night I saw on BJ’s Brewhouse Menu several selections of Beer-Cider combinations for sale. News to me. I didn’t know it was done. I’ve got some Cider at home that is pretty dry and plain tasting, so I might give it a try. It might save you a lot of trouble.
If you didn’t, now you know “sugar” will almost certainly ferment completely out. It makes a poor choice as a sole fermentable unless one plans to halt the fermentation.